How to Make Barbecue Clean Up Quick and Easy

You get to keep the inside of your home clean if you host a barbecue party. But you have to make some preparations. You also need to wipe seating, sweep patios and decks, and move container plants away from the barbecue.

Before you set up the barbecue, hold up a wet thumb to check the wind direction. Position your grill so that the smoke blows away from your home and guests. Practically everything you grill means a greasy plate, so cut the mess by cooking food on disposable wood skewers that guests can simply hold.

Never empty your barbecue’s drip tray down an outside drain. It could start a blockage. Let the fats solidify then put them into a sealed plastic bag and put out with the rubbish.

Don’t be scared by big numbers. Yes, there is more work to do if you have 100 rather than 10 guests. But it’s very unlikely that you’re doing it single-handed. In fact, you may find that your role becomes that of organiser, so much so that you don’t get your hands dirty at all.

Cut out cooking for the family on the night before party day. Eat cold or get in a takeaway meal. You don’t want to be dipping into the cutlery and plates you already sorted for the party. Making the kitchen a no-go zone means that once you’re cleaned up, you stay ready.

Make ready a sturdy box for empty bottles that you can take to the recycling depot later. Stand it on a worktop, not the floor. Smashed bottles are hard to deal with.

You simply won’t have time to wash used cutlery and plates as you go along. Scrape food leftovers promptly into the bin then stack dishes carefully into lidded plastic storage boxes. You can get the dishwasher going tomorrow.

Cheap rubbish sacks are the ultimate false economy. Party rubbish is likely to contain half-full beverages and uneaten food. Avoid the revolting clear-up job that a split sack means by choosing heavy-duty rubbish sacks. The garden refuse kind hold up best to wet rubbish.

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